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Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Udon Salad with Sesame Dressing

I wanted something light for lunch after a swim this morning, so I decided to make a salad.

This salad is partly inspired by Dainty Bites, whose "Main Course Salad" series I really like. It is also inspired by a noodle dish I sometimes have for lunch from Wheat Baumkuchen Pasta & Noodle Bar. This noodle bar at One Raffles Place sells noodles tossed with some seafood or meat, sesame sauce, served on a bed of lettuce.

But I usually prefer more vegetables and less noodles, so my homemade version is just that. It's first a salad, then a noodle dish.

Ingredients
Mixed salad leaves, approx 50g
Cherry tomatoes, halvedFresh apricots, quartered
Hard boiled egg, sliced
Canned tuna (I used about half a can)
Udon noodles, cooked and then chilled in a bowl of ice water (Use as much or as little as you like - the amount determines how many you can feed)
Sesame dressing (homemade or store-bought)
Toasted sesame seeds

What I did
1. Toss the salad leaves with cherry tomatoes and fresh apricots
2. Toss the udon noodles with the sesame salad dressing and toasted sesame seeds
3. Ensemble the salad together by putting the noodles on top of the vegetables, then topping off the dish with slices of hard boiled egg and tuna
4. Sprinkle some toasted sesame seeds on top
5. Mix well before eating, adding more dressing as required as you mix

You can also add in other vegetables as you like - like shredded cucumber, carrots, mushrooms etc

The base salad

Chilled udon noodles tossed with sesame dressing

Top off with tuna and hard boiled eggs.

You can also use prawns, roasted chicken slices or mushrooms.

Instead of hard boiled eggs, shreds of omelet would be nice too

To make your own sesame dressing, grind 3 tablespoons of roasted sesame seeds and then whisk in about 2 tablespoons of Japanese mayonnaise, 2 tablespoons of rice vinegar, 1 teaspoon of sugar, 1/2 teaspoon of mirin and 1/2 teaspoon of sesame oil. Add soy sauce to taste (about 1 tablespoon should do).